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Matthijs de Ligt

Full Name: Matthijs de Ligt

Date of birth: 12 August 1999 (age 17)

Place of birth: Leiderdorp, Netherlands

Height: 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)

Club: Ajax

Playing position: Defender

He was promoted to Ajax's 1st team during the beginning of this season, but I haven't seen this guy play before the EL-final against Man United last night. Looked quite impressive against them, especially given to his young age. De Ligt looks like a really good defender and might become a player we want to sign in future.

Started this season with a game for Jong Ajax against FC Emmen (a very small local side in the Jupiler League) and finished the season with a European Final against Manchester United. After a few impressive matches in the first team he recieved his call-up for the Dutch national team (which was quite controversial since Ron Vlaar broke down mentally at a very young age after a mistake in his first national game). He made a massive mistake, but recovered quickly and was playing his best football at the end of the season. He's very mature for his age (both physically and mentally), check out this video with the fans after the game in Lyon. He really doesn't look 17 years old at all...

I've been watching him pretty much every game and have to say that he's the real deal. Had some issues with pacey strikers and timing his headers defensively earlier this season, but has a very strong partner in Davinson Sánchez to deal with that. I can imagine him having a starting spot with Ajax next season (before Riedewald and Viergever) and get his big move in a few years. This is the one we should be keeping an eye on. Same goes for Dolberg by the way (even though he played an awful game last night).

Watched six games involving De Ligt, he was fantastic in 5 of them and total disaster in one game, Bulgaria - Netherlands (2:0), a nightmare performance in the first half, I believe he was subbed off by Danny Blind after half-time.

No he isnt. But he is obviously massively benefiting from his size at this stage of his career. He must now develop other aspects of his game.

He is benefiting from his size, no doubt about that. And of course the Dutch Eredivisie is not a stage at which he's tested on a regular basis. However, he is at 17-years of age already one of the best centre backs of the league and improved a lot in his defensive skills. He reminds me of a young Stefan de Vrij, but De Ligt is a lot more mature mentally than De Vrij was at this age. Let's get this straight, he's not ready for the next step and he's not taking it as well. But his ceiling is very high and we should be keeping an eye on him. He should have his time at Ajax to develope his game.

As I said before; this guy is the real deal. Matthijs de Ligt has maintained his starting spot under new coach Marcel Keizer, so he was in the starting line-up against Rosenborg tonight. And even though he didn’t improve on his timing defensively and his defensive positioning he really impressed me in this game. He’s missing the presence of Davinson Sánchez on his side and can’t make up for his loss with Nick Viergever playing next to him. Just to make a comparison; it’s pretty much the same thing when we’re playing with Aleix Vidal, Gerard Piqué and Jordi Alba at the back. Piqué would be isolated and caught out of position most of the times. Same thing goes for De Ligt. Without Davinson Sánchez he’s missing the basic defensive skills; strength, tackling and pure ‘bullying strikers off the ball’ qualities.

However, he really impressed me against Rosenborg. He was playing like a classic Libero and reminded me of the way a young Piqué was playing for Barcelona. The comparison to Koeman would be a bridge too far, but his build-up play is really top notch. He has these classic rushes in his game; firstly to intercept the ball in midfield, secondly to almost play as a second central midfielder. His passing, his interceptions and his game-reading skills are world class.

He needs some time to develop his defensive game at Ajax, but we should be keeping an eye on this lad. De Ligt isn’t ready for the next step, but is ceiling is very high. He could be compared to Virgil van Dijk when he was playing for FC Groningen, but I think this guy is mentally lightyears ahead of Van Dijk at this age. Seriously, it would love to see De Ligt at Barcelona in a few years. He could be world class for us.